Grapple



June 23, 1959 I w. v. MCNAMARA 2,891,815

' GRAPPLE Filed Feb. 14, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet.1

INVENTOR 'WTI/TMC'MZ mar-a ATTORNEY June 23, 1959 w, v, MCNAMARA 2,891,815

GRAPPLE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 14, 1958 INVENTOR WKlllc Na m a ra United States Patent GRAPPLE William V. McNamara, Dorchester, Mass.

Application February 14, 1958, Serial No. 715,253

6 Claims. (Cl. 294-406) This invention relates to a novel construction of grapple for use in salvage work in connection with retrieving articles or objects on the bottom of a body of water or in holes, wells, pits or the like.

More particularly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide a grapple which, due to its unique construction, can be readily held in an open position to manipulate it adjacent the bottom of a body of water for loeating a submerged object, after which the grapple can be readily closed around the object for retrieving the object with the grapple.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of the grapple, in an open position, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 11 of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view thereof, taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary radial sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 33 of Figure l;

Figure 4 is an enlarged detailed horizontal sectional view, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 44 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 55 of Figure 2 and in detail;

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional View, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 6-6 of Figure 2;

Figure 7 is an enlarged substantially horizontal sectional view, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 77 of Figure 3;

Figure 8 is a bottom plan view of one element of the grapple, and s Figure 9 is an enlarged detailed cross sectional view, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 9-9 of Figure 5 Referring more specifically to the drawings, the grapple in its entirety is designated generally 10 and includes a substantially spherical body portion 11 having a bore 12 extending diametrically therethrough. A lower end of the bore 12 is enlarged and provided with a plurality of outwardly flared grooves 13, as best seen in Figures 2 and 8. The body 11 is provided with a plurality of vertically disposed outwardly projecting webs 14, which are disposed above and coplanar with the grooves 13, in equally spaced apart relation to one another around the body 11, above and adjacent the horizontal center thereof. Each web 14 has an intermediate portion 15 which is provided with a rounded outer edge and an opening centrally disposed relative to said outer edge, as best seen in Figure 3. Each web 14 has an outwardly and upwardly inclined edge portion located above the intermediate portion 15 and forming an upper stop 16, and a downwardly and outwardly inclined edge portion 2,891,815 Patented June 23, 1959 ice disposed below said intermediate portion 15 and forming portion 15 and have apertures aligning with the aperture thereof to receive a pivot element for pivotally' a lower stop 17.

A connector member 18 is mounted on each web 14. Each connector member 18 has a bifurcated inner end 19 the furcations of which loosely straddle the intermediate connecting the connector member 18 to said intermediate portion 15 for vertical swinging movement between the stops 16 and 17. Each connector 18 has an inclined 1 inner surface 21 at the inner end of the bifurcated portion 19 thereof and which is inclined outwardly and downwardly relative to the web 14 and which is engageable with the lower stop 17 for limiting downward swinging movement of the connector member. Each connector member 18 has an outwardly opening socket 22 the sockets and the rod portions engaged therein, as best seen in Figures 3 and 7. The rods or arms 23 preferably taper from their inner ends toward their outer ends and each terminates in a downturned outer end forming a hook 25. Each arm 23 is provided with a fixed upwardly projecting eye or loop 26 and a similar downwardly projecting eye or loop 27, which eyes or loops are spaced a considerable distance from the ends of the arms and with the lower loops or eyes 27 preferably spaced a greater distance from the inner ends of the arms than the upper eyes or loops 26.

Corresponding ends of a plurality of short lengths of cable or other flexible elements 28 have loops 29 formed therein and which are connected to the lower eyes or loops 27. The loops 29 are preferably formed by a conventional clamp 30 in which the turned back end of a portion and the reach of the cable 28 are clamped adjacent the loop 27.

cables are each passed upwardly and then back through radially aligned openings 31 of a plate 32, as seen in Figure 4, and said upper turned back ends are secured.

to reach portions of the cables 28, beneath and adjacent the plate 32, by additional clamps 30, as seen in Figure 2. The pairs of radially aligned openings 31 are from the center of the plate 32 and to the upper end of which is secured one end of a hoisting cable 34.

Corresponding ends of short flexible members or cables 35 are secured to the eyes or loops 26 by additional clamps 30 and said cables 35 extend upwardly and inwardly and have opposite upper ends extending upwardly and then back through radially aligned openings 36 of a plate or disc 37 and connected thereto by additional clamps 30, in the same manner that the upper ends of the cables 28 are secured to the lower plate or disc 32. An eye fastening 38 is fixed to and extends upwardly from the center of the plate 37. The lower end of a low-- ering cable 39 is secured to the eye fastening 38 above the plate 37. As seen in Figure 6, the plate 37 has a radially extending notch 48 which opens outwardly of a portion of the periphery thereof and which is disposed between two of the radially aligned pairs of openings 36 and has its closed inner end radially spaced from the centrally disposed eye fastening 38. The notch 40 provides a guide for the hoisting cable 34. The cables 34 and 39 are preferably distinctively colored so that the identity of said cables will not be confused by the operator when the grapple is submerged.

The cables 28 extend inwardly. through the grooves 13 which align with the arms 23' thereof and thence upwardly through the bore 12, as. illustrated in Figure 2, and the opposite ends of said Assuming that the grapple 10 is to be utilized to recover an article from the bottom of a body of water, during lowering of the grapple the lowering line 39 is maintained taut to support the weight of the grapple and the hoisting line 3 is kept relatively slack while being payed out so that the arms 23 will be maintained in raised, open positions as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 and with the depending tips of the hooks 25 disposed above the level of the bottom portion of the body 11. With the grapple 10 thus disposed in an open position, it may be manipulated for locating the object to be retrieved until the lower part of the body or a part of one of the arms 'makes contact with the object, not shown. if such contact is made by one of the arms 23, the tendency of the grapple to tilt and the direction in which the pull thereof will then be exerted on the lowering line or cable 39 will indicate to the operator in what direction the grapple should be moved to cause the lower part of the body 11 to make contact with the article. When such contact is made by the body the lowering cable 39 is slacked OE and the hoisting cable 34 is raised slightly and made taut so that the lower plate 32 Will be pulled upwardly from above and adjacent the body 11 toward the upper plate 37. Due to such upward pull on the hoisting cable 34 and simultaneous slacking off of the lowering cable 39, the arms 23 and connector members 18 will be caused to swing downwardly and inwardly, due to the downward and inward pull exerted on the arms 23 by the ends of the cables 28 connected thereto and as said cables 28 slide inwardly and u Wardly through the body 11. The hooks 2.5 will swing downwardly and inwardly through arcuate paths as indicated by the arrow tipped lines 41 in Figure 2. As the tips of the hooks 25 approach positions directly beneath the vertical center of the body 11 the surfaces 21 of the connectors 18 contact the lower stops 17 to prevent the tips of the hooks 25 from coming in contact with one another. it will thus be apparent that the arms 23 will embrace the object to be retrieved, when lowered in the aforedescribed manner relative to the body 11, and while said body 11 is located above the object. The grapple It) is then retrieved by a lifting pull exerted on the hoisting cable 34- to maintain the arms 23 in their fully lowered positions and so that the article embraced thereby will be retrieved with the grapple.

Obviously, the grapple 10 may be made in various sizes and may be operated manually or by any conventional power winch or the like, not shown. The arms 23 are substantially longer in relation to the body 11 than as illustrated in the drawings, said arms preferably being of a length from eight to ten times the diameter of the body 11.

While the grapple 10 has been shown as provided with five arms 23, a greater or lesser number of arms and associated parts may be provided.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resorted to, without departing from the function or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A grapple comprising a body member having a top portion and a bottom portion, said body member having a bore extending from top to bottom therethrough, web members projecting outwardly from said body portion in spaced apart relation to one another, said web members being spaced from the top and bottom of the body member, connector members pivotally connected to and extending outwardly from said web members and supported thereby for vertical swinging movement relative to the body, elongated arms having inner ends rigidly secured to said connector members and forming outwardly projecting extensions thereof, said arms each having a downturned outer free end forming a hook, a plate, a flexible hoisting member having a lower end connected to said plate, a plurality of flexible members having upper ends connected to said plate and supported thereby above and adjacent the top of the body member, said flexible members extending downwardly through said bore and having opposite outer ends connected to said arms at points spaced from the inner and outer ends of the arms, a second plate, a flexible lowering member having a lower end connected to said second plate, flexible members having upper ends connected to said second plate and lower ends connected to said arms at points spaced from the ends of the arms, said lowering member functioning to support the grapple while being lowered for maintaining the arms thereof in raised open positions, said hoisting member functioning to swing the arms downwardly and inwardly to closed positions and for hoisting the closed grapple.

2. A grapple as in claim 1, said web members each having an upper stop and a lower stop, said connector members bearing against said upper stops for limiting upward swinging movement of the arms when the grapple is supported by the lowering member, said second plate and the last mentioned flexible members, and said connector members bearing against said lower stops when the grapple is supported by the hoisting member, the first mentioned plate and first mentioned flexible members with the arms swung downwardly to closed positions, said lower stops functioning when engaged by the connector members to maintain the hooks spaced from one another beneath the body member.

3. A grapple as in claim 2, said first mentioned flexible members being connected to the arms more remote from said connector members than the connection of the last mentioned flexible members to said arms.

4. A grapple as in claim 1, said arms comprising rods and being tapered from the inner to the outer ends thereof.

5. A grapple as in claim 1, said body member being substantially spherical and the bore thereof having a flared lower end provided with outwardly diverging grooves disposed beneath the web members and in alignment with said web members and arms and in which portions of said first mentioned flexible members engage.

6. A grapple as in claim 5, said Web members having upper stops engaged by said connector members when the grapple is suspended by the lowering member for supporting the arms in open positions with the hooks above the level of the lower portion of the body member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 262,330 Stone Aug. 8, 1882 1,245,657 Araki Nov. 6, 1917 1,573,878 Smith Feb. 23, 1926 2,049,679 Whiteman et a1 Aug. 4, 1936 2,820,664 Meude Ian. 21, 1958 

